ERIC ED376049: The Impact of Family Math/Family Science upon the Attitudes and Behaviors of Participants in the Valley of Phoenix from Fall of 1991 to Spring of 1993.

114 Pages·1993·2 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 376 049
SE 054 915
AUTHOR
Jaramillo, James A.
The Impact of Family Math/Family Science upon the
TITLE
Attitudes and Behaviors of Participants in the Valley
of Phoenix from Fall of 1991 to Spring of 1993.
PUB DATE
93
NOTE
115p.; Ph.D. Paper, Arizona State University.
PUB TYPE Dissertations/Theses
Undetermined (040)
Tests /Evaluation Instruments (160)
EDRS PRICE
MF01/PC05 Plus Postage.
Behavior; Elementary Education; *Elementary School
DESCRIPTORS
Students; Grade 1; Grade 4; Grade 6; Interviews;
*Mathematics Instruction; Minority Groups; Parent
Child Relationship; *Parent Participation; Parent
School Relationship; School Community Relationship;
*Science Instruction; Socioeconomic Status; *Student
Attitudes; Surveys
Arizona (Phoenix); *Family Math; *Family Science
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
The Education Resources Center (ERC)
is a
community-based organization that serves students from various
elementary schools united by the Phoenix Coalition for Youth and
Families (PCYF). The PCYF Project was authorized to organize agencies
and schools in the lower socio-economic areas of inner-city Phoenix
into one collaborative arrangement. This study was undertaken to
determine if a relationship exists between those cohorts who
participated in the Family Math and Family Science programs offered
by the ERC and their behaviors and attitudes towards these programs.
Surveyed participants consisted of: first-, fourth-, and
sixth-graders (n=164), parents (n=54), program instructors (n=8), and
program instructor trainees (n=155). Participant observations,
collection of school and program documents, and adult and child
survey responses disclosed results that indicate a positive
relationship between each participant and their behaviors and
attitudes toward these programs. The positive adult evaluations of
the program indicate their acceptance of the program and their desire
to implement after-school classes in their communities. The paper
includes copies of the Parent Survey (in English and Spanish), Child
Survey (in English and Spanish), Family Math Evaluation, and Family
Science Evaluation. (MKR)
***********************************************************************
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
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O
The Impact of Family
Math/Family Science Upon the
co
Attitudes and Behaviors
w
of Participants in the Valley
of Phoenix from
Fall of 1991 to Spring of 1993.
by James A. Jaramillo
Educational Anthropologist
Arizona State University (ASU)
Multicultural Education
Ph.D. Student
"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE
THIS
MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED
BY
J
U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
A t,LA U1
I LL
Office 0( Edacalonal Research and Improvement
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
Prepared for Valle del Sol, Inc.
CENTER IERICI
FTh.5 document has seen ,eoreeo.. ed as
Education Resources Center
ece.ved from toe bets°. c cuctaa.zata,
ca.gasat.A9 Lt
Virginia Sterling, Director
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
C. M.bOt cbabgeS have been made to .mp,o,e
recuoduct.on ouasty
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)."
Fo.nts of wew or op.o.on5 stated A II,ts dot a
otl.c.ai
meat do nol oeceSsarav represent
OER, 005.1,on or policy
and for the .nurse,
"Bilingual Education/ BLE 790 Reading and Conference"
Instructor: Dr. Sarah Hudelson
Advisor: Dr. Santos Vega
Multicultural Education (ASU)
Tempe, AZ 85287
Spring of 1993
REST COPY AVAILABLE
9
Table
of
Contents
Preface
1
Abstract
4
Introductwn
9
Statement of the Problem
9
Family Math/Family
Science Program
3
1
Target Population
6
1
Targeted Population's
Environmental Context
17
Goals of Study
8
1
Objectives of Study
9
1
Limitations of Study
9
1
Definitional Concerns
2
9
Review of the Literature
4
2
Methodology
2
6
Conceptual Framework of
this Study
2
6
Research Design
2
7
Statistical Techniques
2
8
Descriptive Techniques
2
8
Instrumentation
2
8
Data Gathering
0
3
Sample School Population
3
3
Research Question
Strategy
3
3
Proposition 1:
Family Environment
and Parent Attitudes
3
5
Proposition 2:
Do parents value
the child's learning
of subject 9
4 u
Proposition 3:
Do parents believe
their children
can learn subjects ?
4 3
.
.
Proposition 4:
Home environment and
child's interest in math
4
6
or science.
School Environment
4
7
Proposition 5:
Child attitudes towards
the after-school Family
4
9
Math/Family Science.
Proposition 6: Do
your parents like these Programs'?
0
5
Proposition 7:
School-Family Interactions and
Resources
5
1
Community Environment
5
3
Family Science Evaluation
Results of November 6, and
7, 1992
4
5
Family Math/Family Science
Impact Results as reported by
7
5
Adult Participants of 1992.
Family Science Evaluation
Results of March 12, and 13, 1993
6
1
Matematicas Para La Familia
Evaluation Results of April 16,
5
6
and 17, 1993.
Student Evaluations of Family
Math/Family Science Programs
6 8
Conclusion
0
7
School Literature Findings..
.
.
0
7
Major Findings of the Study
2
7
Recommendations for Future Studies
7
6
References Cited
0
8
List of Tables
5
8
List of Charts
6
8
List of Figures
7
8
List of Graphs
8
8
Appendices
8
9
1
PREFACE
This research was conducted
as part of an ongoing study to determine
what factors influence student
academic performance for the
purpose of
assisting community-based organizations'
(CBOs) work toward improving
student performance.
To assist these CBOs, the goals of
this researcher
were to identify, define, and explain school academic
performance in
order to devise a working community
model that explains this
phenomenon.
To complete these goals, the researcher
identified,
described, and explained how the Family
Math/Family Science Programs,
as a CBO representative, impacted teachers, community
liaisons, parents,
and children (between the
ages of 6-14) within the community.
The
research objectives were to
measure the impact of these programs
upon
the attitudes and behaviors of
teachers, community liaisons,
parents, and
children from Fall of 1991
to Spring of 1993.
These cohorts participated in the
programs in the environmental
settings of the home, community, and
The home setting is where
school
the parents instructed their children
in mathematics/science.
The school
setting
is where these certified instructors
taught math/science to their
parents and children.
The community setting
(i.e., South Mountain
Community College) is where instructors,
parents, and community liaisons
trained to become certified Family
Math/Family Science Instructors.
For
this study, The research question
examined whether there
was a positive
relationship between those cohorts
who participated (participants)
the
in
Family Math/Family Science
programs and their behaviors and attitudes
in
each program environment.
Put another way,
was there a positive
relationship between each
cohort's learning environment
(the school,
community, and home) and
their attitudes and behaviors
towards
2
math/science-among students,
parents,
and community
instru_:tors
liaisons?
That is, did those cohorts who
participated in these
programs
develop corresponding positive attitudes
and behaviors toward
math/science?
Along these same lines, critical theorists,
such as De La
Cruz (1989:3), similarly posited,
are the elements of the child's home
learning environment (the values,
attitudes, and behaviors) compatible
with the environments of the school
and community?
The alternate
hypothesis (H1) stated a positive relationship
between each cohort's
participation in these programs and their positive
attitudes toward
math/science while the null hypothesis (Ho) stated
no relationship
between each cohort's participation
these programs and their positive
in
attitudes toward math/science.
To answer this interrogative, the
researcher assessed the evaluation
scores and survey responses of those
cohorts who participated in these
programs with their attitudinal
responses
these programs.
to
In addition to testing whether
a. relationship existed between each
cohort and the programs, this study also revealed
the impact of the
programs upon all cohorts.
The impact assessment of all cohorts'
attitudes and behaviors toward these
programs was based on surveys and
eva;aation scores by the participants from Fall of
1991 to Spring of 1993.
To complete this objective, the researcher used
Rosier's (1978)
conceptual framework to
investigate specific
causes of academic
performance in the literature, school
records, ongoing social
agency
documentation of activities, and home
visits.
To describe the home-
learning environment, the
researcher employed De La Cruz's
(1989)
definition which
uses elements, known as the values, attitudes,
and
behaviors of the family
(i.e., parents and children)
to define this setting.
3
is hoped this study's findings
It
and recommendations will be used
to
educate school and CBO personnel about
what factors influence students
to perform exemplary in school.
Accordingly, this study's findings will
provide agency personnel with feedback
as to what they can do to
improve their methods toward promoting
student academic excellence.
For this study, I took on the roles of
a "Research Analyst" and a "Change
Agent"(Van Willigen 1986:5).
In the former role, the researcher gathered
and analyzed research data.
In the latter role, the researcher "worked
to
stimulate change" in school academic performance
by teaching classes at
school to
at-risk students.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The researcher wishes to
express his gratitude to the students, faculty,
and staff at the seven elementary schools in the
Valley of Phoenix, who
devoted their time and patience to this study.
The researcher thank
school district office administrators and the Education
Resources
Center's staff (Virginia Sterling and Julie M. -Flores )
for assisting and
granting me permission to gather data about
my cohorts.
I am especially
grateful to Dr. Santos Vega of the Hispanic Research Center
(HRC),
Arizona State University (ASU) and Dr. Yolanda De La Cruz
of ASU West
who periodically guided my research throughout the
duration of this
study.
James A. Jaramillo
Arizona State University
Multicultural
Education
Ph.D. Student-Candidate
Tempe, Arizona
4
ABSTRACT
This investigation was undertaken
to determine if a relationship existed
between those cohorts who participated (participants)
the Family
in
Math/Family Science programs and their
behaviors and attitudes toward
these programs from Fall of 1991 to Spring of 1993.
Attitudes for this
study were defined as "the values, attitudes, and beliefs
that influence
parents' decisions regarding behaviors
" (De La Cruz 1989:4).
.
.
.
Behaviors are "the interactions and activities that
are the mechanisms (or
vehicle) through which children learn" (De La Cruz 1989:4).
This study's
population consisted of participant groups classified
the proceeding
three cohort groups:
students, parents, and program instructors.
In this
experiment, participants were designated
as those cohorts who
participated in a program.
Participants were divided into the categories of
adult and child.
Adult participants included program instructors,
parents,
and community liaisons, while child participants included
primary-grade
The student population in
students.
this study reflected a representative
sample because the researcher randomly surveyed
a primary student
population (n=164) composed of the first,
fourth, sixth, and an
assortment of primary grades during program classroom sessions
at seven
elementary schools in the Spring of 1993.
The adult population in this
study similarly reflected a representative sample because
the researcher
randomly surveyed program instructors (n=8) and
parents (n=54).
In
a
separate survey,
the researcher surveyed those
parents, community
liaisons,
and program-instructor trainees (n=155),
who participated
in
one of a series of Family Math/Family Science training
sessions, to
evaluate these programs' impact
upon participants.
5
The researcher employed
a multi-method research approach
identify,
to
define, and determine whether
a relationship existed between cohort
participation in each program and participant
attitudes toward Family
Math/Family Science.
This approach involved employing descriptive and
statistical techniques to devise, disseminate, and analyze
data by cohort
groups and their attitudes and behaviors toward Family Math/Family
Science.
Descriptive techniques consisted of participant observations,
informal and formal interviews, and
surveys with primarily students, some
faculty, and a few community liaisons in the school and
community
settings.
Separate surveys were administered to the following cohort
groups:
primary grade students, parents and/or
program instructors, and
program-instructors
trainees.
In the study of family participants, statistical techniques
consisted of
cross-comparing each school's students (by grade level)
and their
parents' attitudinal and behavioral
survey responses to De La Cruz's
(1989) home learning environment "elements"
to determine how the
program influences student academic performance.
In the study of the
program's instructor-trainees,
statistical
techniques consisted of revealing
their evaluation responses from the program's
In the survey
surveys.
population as a whole, this high
survey response rate of 164 child
students, 62 parents and/or instructors, and
155 program-instructor
trainees enabled the researcher to glean statistically significant
results
from the data.
After investigating what influences school academic
performance in
the
literature, school records, and ongoing social
agency documentation of
activities,
this study selected Rosier's (1978)
conceptual framework.
In
his conceptual framework, Rosier
employed an ecological model
that
0
6
indicated school academic performance
is influenced by the following
blocks of environmental factors:
the family, school, gender, and
individual personality.
Because Rosier's model did not include
community-based organizations
block that influences student
as
a
academic performance, the researcher
constructed the CBOs (such as
the
Family Math/Family Science Programs)
to represent a block, and attached
to Rosier's model to - emonstrate how
programs influence school
it.
academic
performance.
In classifying Rosier's model, it
is deemed an eclectic one because it
deployed both internal environmental factors (individual,
age, school, and
local culture/community) and external
environmental
factors
(family,
sex, and economic and political settings) to explain what influences
student academic performance.
The researcher is
considering studying
the family environment on a personal level
as part of a future study.
In
this study,1990 United States Census Bureau data
were used to described
family environment.
the
Student, parents, and instructor
responses to
survey data were implemented to describe these internal and external
This revamped model enabled the researcher
environments.
to provide
CBOs' personnel with novel findings about what factors
influence school
academic
performance.
To assist community-based organizations and school
personnel in
their
goal to improve student academic performance, this
researcher also
devised recommendations from these findings
to educate the former
groups about those factors
that influence school academic
performance.
Secondly, this study's findings will provide
the CBOs' personnel with
feedback concerning ways to improve
their methods toward promoting
student academic excellence.
Equally important, the survey's
findings